Endowing the Arts at Burroughs

Over the years, Burroughs has been the beneficiary of several key endowed funds, which have supported the fine arts program. A major gift in 2006 from Kim Kuehner '71 in memory of Kerry Kuehner '68 refurbished the fine arts building, built a new art gallery, and endowed the building in perpetuity. The fine arts building is a fitting tribute to Kerry, whose career, interests and talents were in the arts. While at Burroughs, Kerry created paintings, drawings and sculptures, which still hang in the homes of her family and friends. The glass-enclosed gallery space in the Kerry S. Kuehner Fine Arts Gallery is dedicated to student and alumni artwork.

In the early 1980s, the late Mr. and Mrs. Sydney S. Cohen established an endowed fund for the purchase and display of artwork for the Burroughs permanent art collection. The collection grew under the direction of the late Joanna Collins '47, who taught painting and drawing at Burroughs from 1957 to 1993. While at Burroughs, Joanna established a trust and named three trustees-all Burroughs alumni-who were given full discretion as to the disposition of the assets. Upon her death, more than $1 million from Joanna's estate was given to endow the Fred Dreher / Joanna Collins Chair in Fine Arts. This chair honors Joanna and her mentor, former painting department chair, teacher and sculptor, Fred Dreher, who began teaching at Burroughs in the 1930s and was a practicing and exhibiting artist until his death in 1986. The current chair holder is Howard Jones, a member of the Burroughs faculty since 1987.

In 1988, an anonymous donor established an art purchase fund in honor of the late Frannie Martin, wife, mother and grandmother of Burroughs alumni. Because of these generous gifts, the school's permanent art collection now numbers nearly 300 works.

The Bonsack Gallery was dedicated in 1965 through a gift from the late Mrs. Arthur Bonsack in honor of her son, the late Arthur A. Bonsack Jr. '31. Over the years, the Bonsack Gallery has shown a range of diverse and challenging works by locally and nationally recognized artists within the context of a teaching gallery. Gallery talks in which the artists visit campus to discuss their philosophies and technical concerns enrich the Burroughs experience for students, faculty and visitors. Click here for a current gallery schedule.

Endowed funds such as these strengthen the work of the fine arts department in a myriad of ways, and play a central part in supporting the school's mission of learning through and living with art.